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A Taste of Ireland

October 16, 2008

A fine drizzle greeted us last Friday when we arrived in Dublin, drifting down fitfully as we made our first foray into the city. Allison wanted to go to the Guinness Storehouse, and after getting slightly disoriented by the winding, schizophrenic streets we at last made it. Guinness is beer—“stout,” they call it, and the Storehouse is an iconic tourist attraction. But it’s worth the visit: There is a well-laid out interactive exhibition describing the origins and production of Guinness. At the top of the building is a bar with panoramic windows which (on clear days) provided excellent views of the city. A clear day this was not, but that didn’t stop the bar from being packed with people waiting to receive their complimentary pint. All in all, it was an interesting stop and at least gave us a reprieve from the cold and the rain.

But we had to return to the rain eventually, and after an excellent dinner we continued to the Duke Pub for a literary pub crawl, another of Allison’s finds. This one I truly enjoyed: Two professional actors led us around Dublin for about two hours, sharing bits of Irish history and performing scenes from famous Irish literary works. In between, of course, we stopped in pubs, where those who desired imbibed various alcoholic beverages. For me, the pub stops were a blessing simply to be out of the rain, for by that point it was coming down in earnest with an aggressive slant from which no umbrella could protect you. Add the stiff wind and the night chill and you get pretty unpleasant meteorological conditions. I returned to the hotel that night wet to the knees and hoping fervently that the rest of our trip would be drier.

The weather gods must have smiled upon me, for after the first night’s authentic Dublin weather we enjoyed two days of clear skies. Saturday we slept late, took the bus to the city center, and signed up for a hop on-hop off tour. This brilliant idea is a great way to see a city and get a respite from walking: You buy a ticket (usually valid for 24 hours), get on a tour bus whose fixed route hits all the hot destinations, and get on and off when it suits your fancy. A bus comes by the various stops every ten to fifteen minutes, so when you get off you can spend as long as you want at the places that interest you, after which you can easily pick up another bus and continue the tour. As Allison says, the bus then becomes something like your own personal taxi.

The first place we got off was Trinity College, Dublin’s oldest university, where we went to the old library to see the Book of Kells, a famous illuminated manuscript of the four gospels. Before you actually get to the book, there is an excellent display giving the history of the book, describing how such books were made, and explaining the symbolism of the illustrations. The book itself is something to see; it’s incredible to think of the amount of work that went into its production. The only unfortunate thing is that, as it’s a book and housed behind several inches of what I suspect to be bullet-proof glass, visitors can only see two pages of the massive tome. After the Book of Kells, one proceeds to the Long Room, the stunning hall of the old library which contains the college’s antique collections. Every library should be so beautiful.

Our next stop was Christ Church Cathedral. To my unpracticed eye it wasn’t significantly different from other cathedrals, and we soon picked up the tour again and sat on it to the end, staying on through the beginning of the next tour until we reached a spot where we wanted to get out and walk. Dublin can’t compete with Geneva for sheer beauty, but it’s a charming city. None of the buildings are over five stories, so you don’t feel like they’re looming over you. The city feels very open as a result. Endless windy pedestrian streets snake through the city, changing their names every few blocks, and empty into the city’s main arteries just as the River Liffy, which bisects Dublin, empties into the Irish Sea. And the people are so friendly. I love just being able to walk the streets of someplace new and soak up its unique energy and character.

After dinner on Saturday we went to Legends Bar on the recommendation of a friend of Allison’s who’d been to Dublin recently. The pub has a live show every night with traditional Irish music and dance, and though the good seats require payment (and come with dinner) anyone can go into the pub to watch. So we went for free and enjoyed an excellent show. In the end we determined that Irish dancers are either really good or horrible--there’s not really a middle ground--and that the dancers at Legends were worthy of Riverdance. We returned to the hotel satisfied, sank into our amazingly comfortable beds, and recharged for the next day.

Sunday we took the bus to Skerries, a seaside town north of Dublin, which was reputed to have a nice castle and lovely water views. While the latter is true, the castle was a bit hyped-up: It isn’t even really a castle, just a manor house that its wealthy owner called a castle for his own enjoyment. Still, it’s located on spectacular grounds, perched on top of a hill facing the sea, and we received a pleasant, informative tour from the cheerful (if somewhat long-winded) guide. Determined to visit a real castle before leaving, we journeyed back to Dublin and took a tour of Dublin Castle, which was the seat of the British viceroy until Ireland gained independence in 1921. As one would expect, the castle is sumptuously decorated and rich with symbolism. The tour also included a trip underground to see some Viking ruins recently discovered underneath the castle. Thus, we were able to see a castle and the countryside in the same day.

That sums up the interesting part of our time in Ireland. We took a brutally early flight to Madrid, from whence we took the bus back to Oviedo. After our experience by bus going to San Sebastián and Bilbao we decided to travel “supra”--the “first class” version, I suppose you could call it. The seats are roomier and more comfortable, you get food and drinks, movies play, and they’re usually direct--that is, they don’t stop at every pueblo between you and your destination. It costs more, but on long bus rides the extra comforts are completely worth it. I must also note that central Spain is infinitely more interesting from the ground than from the air. On the various occasions I’ve flown into Madrid I’ve thought central Spain a dull, dry, featureless place with little to offer. Taking the bus through the heart of the country convinced me otherwise. The predominant colors are indeed yellow and brown, but the tawny grasses cling to a rough terrain laced with sturdy evergreens. In some places, deciduous trees were changing their leaves from yellowish-green to fiery gold. It’s a rugged, untamed kind of land, but not without its own inherent beauty. You’ll be able to see for yourself in a couple weeks: Allison and I are going to Toledo, about an hour south of Madrid, in about ten days, and I should get many good pictures from that trip. But the next entry is going to be about the University of Oviedo--after all, that's the main reason I'm over here!

I wish we’d been able to spend more time in Ireland. The country is so pretty, the people incredibly friendly, and they speak English! Our trip was just a taste, a single bite of a scrumptious dish. I’m glad to have sampled it, but I fully intend to go back some day and clean the plate.

Photo 1: Me standing at the side of the River Liffy. In the background is the Ha'penny Bridge in the background, so called because the toll for crossing it used to be a half-penny.
Photo 2: The grounds of Trinity College
Photo 3: Christ Church Cathedral
Photo 4: View of the sea from Skerries
Photo 5: Ardgillan Castle in Skerries
Photo 6: Dublin Castle
Photo 7: Sunset over the River Liffy from the O'Connell Bridge

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